JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #83 - August/September 2013 - 80

epoxy

resins that allow both the resin
and fibres to be recovered and reused. The
recycling process is simple and does not rely
on high temperatures or supercritical liquids
to remove the resin. The performance of
composites based on these systems is comparable to composites using conventional,
non-recyclable resins. The resin is recovered
after the recycling process and may be
reused in adhesive and moulding compound
formulations. The recovered fibres retain
almost their full mechanical properties and
can be reused in structural applications. n
Fig. 3: Cured AFV-1001 resin dissolution trial

More information:
www. adessomaterials.com

Fig. 4: Laminate recycling trials

were placed in the recycling bath and heated
to 125°C for 4 hours, a complete separation
of the carbon fibre and resin matrix was observed. As shown in Figure 4, the recovered
carbon fibre still maintains its fabric network
and almost full mechanical properties. The

reclaimed resin can be obtained after neutralization through precipitation.
Preliminary testing of the recovered carbon
fibre recyclates and reclaimed resin mix was
carried out. Although further tests are still
on-going, it was observed that the reclaimed
resin still has
a Tg around
62 to 93°C.
Its IR
spectrum
and molecular weight
distribution
are shown in
Figure 5.

Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the current
and former members of Adesso’s R&D team,
including Dr Xin Li, Dr Bing Qin, Dr Stefan
Pastine, Prof. Dan Xie and their associates,
for their contribution to the invention and
product development. He also expresses his
appreciation to Mr Frazer Barnes (Currently
joined Adesso as President) and his team at
Hengshen Fiber Materials Co. for co-development in composite laminate manufacturing
and testing. The work is supported by
Adesso Advanced Materials Wuxi Co. Ltd.
Reference
[1] Recycling technologies for thermoset composite
materials-current status; S.J. Pickering; Composites
Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume
37, Issue 8, The 2nd International Conference:
Advanced Polymer Composites for Structural Applications in Construction, August 2006, pages 1206-1215.
[2] See www.recycledcarbonfibre.com
[3] Chemical recycling of carbon fibre composites
using alcohols under subcritical and supercritical
conditions; Raul PineroHernanz, Juan Garcia-Serna,
Christopher Dodds, Jason Hyde, Martyn Poliakoff,
Maria Jose Cocero, Sam Kingman, Stephen Pickering,

Conclusion

Fig. 5: Preliminary physical properties of reclaimed resin matrix

Adesso has
developed
Cleavamine®
degradable
curing agents
for epoxy
prepregs
and liquid

80 jec composites magazine / No83 August - September 2013

Edward Lester, The Journal of Supercritical Fluids,
Volume 46, Issue 1, August 2008, pages 83-92.
[4] Bo Liang, Bing Qin, Xin Li, etc.; PCT Patent
Application: WO2013007128 “Reinforced Composite
and Method for Recycling the Same” Filed on May
4, 2012.
[5] Stefan Pastine, Bing Qin, Bo Liang; PCT Patent
Application: WO2012071896 “Novel Agents For
Reworkable Epoxy Resins”, filed on July 8, 2011.

http://www.adessomaterials.com http://www.recycledcarbonfibre.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #83 - August/September 2013

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